Mount Everest in the Pre-Monsoon. Besides the May 10 tragedy on Mount Everest, a number of significant mountaineering accomplishments were achieved. Among the best were Hans Kammerlander’s 17-hour ascent of the North Col/North Ridge route and subsequent first-ever glisse descent and the first ascent of the north-northeast couloir by a Russian team led by Sergei Antipin from Siberia. Accounts of Everest in the pre-monsoon appear earlier in this journal.